Sleepless
by Farsi the Paladin
Summary: Stephanie’s musings on how her relationship with Sportacus is changing as she grows older. SportaSteph. R&R.
1. Chapter 1

Sleepless

Warnings: Fluff and a little angsting. ((Rating may change in regard to later chapters))

Pairing: Largely Stephanie x Sportacus, with smidgeons of Trixie x Stingy.

Disclaimer: All LazyTown characters belong to the genius sex-god that is Magnus Scheving.

--

Chapter One

To start off with, she'd seen him as a playmate; the 'above-average' town hero who came to her rescue countless times, no matter what the time of day or, indeed, night was.

Time had marched on though, and Stephanie's innocent, earnest respect for him had twisted into completely new dimensions, taking root deep in her heart, and awakening an aching desire inside her.

This strange, new feeling had at first alarmed her. She found herself blushing furiously whenever Sportacus spoke to her, and even started getting into minor mishaps on purpose, just so she could have a few moments of blissful joy in his arms, as he helped her down from a tree, or caught her as she was about to fall. The contact caused small shivers to jolt up and down her spine, and her heart would begin to race.

Slightly confused and bewildered, she kept her thoughts to herself, wondering what it could all possibly mean. She refused to let herself think she was in love; that would be foolish. Instead, she thought about confiding in someone. She considered trying to tell Uncle Milford how she felt, but wrote it off as being too embarrassing. She could always tell Bessie, but that was too risky, considering she was somewhat of a gossip.

That left her friends. Trixie probably wasn't a good idea; she had a habit of spilling any secrets she was told, and sometimes she'd even make fun of the person in question.

She ruled out Pixel as well. His crush on Stephanie had grown more and more apparent, almost to the point of obsession. As a result, their friendship was more strained, and they'd grown a little distant. Stephanie couldn't bear to think of Sportacus distancing himself from her.

Stingy and Ziggy were probably her best bets. Ziggy was incredibly loyal, and Stingy always kept secrets, which he viewed as 'his'.

Of course, the person she _really_ wanted to tell was Sportacus himself, but she couldn't see that happening in a hurry. Sighing sadly, she tried to fight off mental images of her pouring out her heart to Sportacus, only to have him throw it all back in her face.

A familiar ache tore open inside her, and she began to cry.

--

AN: Sorry for the short first chapter! I'll post more in a few reviews' time.

Anyways, let me know what you think, via that handy little button in the corner plzkthnx.

Flames will be buried alive. ((If that's possible))


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: A huge "thank you" to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate your comments and support. –Serial luffage to you all- 

Disclaimer: Still don't own LazyTown. –Sob-

-- Chapter Two 

Sportacus gazed down at the town below him, lost deep in thought. He'd been helping Stephanie a lot recently, and he wasn't sure why. It wasn't like her to climb trees, or forget entire dance routines that she'd spent hours rehearsing. He'd begun to wonder whether or not to confront Stephanie about her unusual behaviour.

Suddenly, his crystal beeped, snapping his attention back to the present.

"Someone's in trouble!" he spoke aloud, and in the flaring light of the crystal, he could just make out Stephanie's vivid pink hair. Urgently, he began back-flipping through the air, before landing neatly in the centre of the room.

"Down!" he commanded, holding onto the pole as he descended on a little platform, until he was right underneath his airship. "Ladder!" A sturdy, white rope ladder rolled out from a small hatch, allowing Sportacus to climb down it.

Once his feet touched the ground, he was off, twisting, leaping and cartwheeling in the direction of the distress call; Stephanie's house. As he reached the gate, Mayor Meanswell burst out the front door and dashed over to greet Sportacus.

"Oh, thank goodness you're here, Sportacus!" he panted lightly. "Stephanie's locked herself in her room, and she won't come out!"

Immediately, Sportacus flipped down the path and into the house, making a beeline for Stephanie's room.

"Stephanie?" he inquired gently, listening as she gasped and hiccoughed in surprise. "Are you all right?"

"Y-yes! I'm fine…" Stephanie replied thickly, from the other side of the door. Even though she'd known all along that she'd set his crystal off, she still couldn't help but feel a little resentful; she didn't want Sportacus to see her crying.

"Are you sure?" he asked her again, disbelief tainting his voice.

"Please open the door, Stephanie!" Mayor Meanswell had appeared.

_They're not going to go away until they've seen me…_ She thought miserably, climbing off her bed. Wiping her eyes frantically, and trying to slow her breathing she meandered over to the door and unlatched it. The weight of her uncle and Sportacus leaning against it caused it to swing open, and both men toppled forwards in a moment of surprise, before crashing to the floor at Stephanie's feet.

She couldn't help it. They both looked so funny, sprawled on her bedroom floor like a throw-rug. A slow smile flitted across her lips, and she began to giggle.

Sportacus got to his feet, before hauling the mayor upright. Dusting himself down, the mayor turned to his niece, alarmed at the sight of her puffy, red eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked anxiously, although he was somewhat relieved to see that she was giggling lightly.

"I am now, Uncle Milford." She smiled, giving him a reassuring hug.

She turned around and jumped back slightly when she nearly walked straight into Sportacus. He gazed down at her, his soft, blue eyes twinkling with warmth. A familiar heat rose in her cheeks and she dropped her gaze to her shoes, silently praying that he hadn't noticed her blushing.

A hand cupped her chin gently and tilted her head up to meet his gaze. The contact set Stephanie's skin on fire, and she just knew, that any minute now, the combination of Sportacus' piercing eyes and delicate gesture would cause her to melt into a pink puddle.

"Is everything okay?" he asked quietly, tracing the smooth skin of her jaw-line with his thumb.

Her heart leapt into her throat, and she heard herself sigh deeply. Somewhere behind her, her uncle was humming to himself as he opened the window, but he sounded distant, as though he was down the hallway, or in his own bedroom. The wall behind Sportacus seemed to melt away, followed by the floor and everything around them, until it was just the two of them, steeped in a brilliant, white light.

"Stephanie?" Sportacus frowned slightly at her glazed expression, wondering if she was ill.

"Uh-huh?" she responded softly.

"Do you feel unwell?"

"No… I feel great." She beamed up at him, heart swelling inside her when he returned it.

"I'm glad to hear it."

He slowly withdrew his hand, and Stephanie struggled not to pout at the loss. The spell seemed to have broken, as everything ebbed back into reality, and she felt an almost overwhelming sense of disappointment. Even after Sportacus and her uncle had left, she remained rooted to the spot, committing every detail of the past five minutes to memory.

Gingerly, she retraced the path Sportacus' thumb had, with her own, blushing slightly as she remembered his eyes; calm, yet concerned.

--

Back on his airship, Sportacus' thoughts were lingering over Stephanie again. Why had she been crying? And why had she seemed so quiet and subdued when he'd spoken to her? He wondered if perhaps, she and Trixie had had a disagreement and weren't speaking to each other again; but then, why hadn't Stephanie said that when he'd asked her?

His thoughts became jumbled, leading him in circles until he came back to the original thought. With too many questions, and nothing yielding answers to any of them, he sighed in submission and abandoned that particular trail of thought.

In an attempt to dispel the tension he was now harbouring, he threw himself into performing a gruelling set of one-armed push-ups, alternating his arms as a means of forcing himself to concentrate more. Lifting his head, a sudden blur of colour caught his eye.

A crisp photo, clouded slightly by the dusts of time, lay alone on the floor, beside his wardrobe. One of the doors was slightly ajar, revealing the source of the mysterious picture.

Curiosity overcoming him, Sportacus got to his feet and flipped over to the wardrobe, before kneeling and gingerly picking the photo up by a corner.

Holding it in the palms of both hands, he carefully blew the dust off it, smiling suddenly in recognition. Five, bright-eyed faces beamed back.

The children were crowded together, laughing happily. A football lying idly at their feet, and their flushed faces indicated that they were in the middle of a game. Even Pixel had come out to play that day.

Sportacus' eyes wandered across the picture, stopping eventually on Stephanie's face. Even in a photo, her soft features were captured perfectly. The sunlight that had shone down on the group that day, seemed to have taken a liking to her, adding a beautiful sheen to her deep pink hair, and glorifying her natural highlights.

In the four years that he'd known Stephanie, only now did it dawn on him that she was no longer the bouncy, little eight-year old that was grinning up at him from the photo. She was fast approaching her thirteenth birthday, and, despite Sportacus' wishes otherwise, she was growing up.

The changes, although slight, were noticeable none the less. She was taller now; even Pixel couldn't dare to compete with her. And her hair was sleeker, longer and almost always adorned with little plaits, colourful braids or clasps.

A tight pang gripped his chest, and he swallowed firmly, trying to ease the knot in his throat. Quietly, he straightened up and made to put the photo back in the wardrobe. He decided against this however, and pinned it up beside the hatch for his bed. The bright cheeriness of the picture livened up the otherwise stark white interior of the airship, and Sportacus gave a small smile of satisfaction.

--

A/N: So, what do you think? Good? Bad? I'm happy with it… For the time being anyway. Again, I'll post another chapter after a few reviews, so R&R please! )

Flames will be peed on, courtesy of my guinea pigs, Rat & Tumpshy, and most probably eaten too.


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